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What is Evidence Rating?

Evidence rating is a process by which scientific evidence is used to support recommendations about clinical decisions. Evidence rating has become an expectation of multidisciplinary health care organizations.

To meet this expectation,AORN's board of directors made the decision in 2010 to create a process for rating and ranking the evidence used to shape AORN's Guidelines for Perioperative Practice (previously referred to recommended practices). This evidence rating process for AORN was developed by experts within AORN, including the association's Evidence-rating Task Force, Guidelines Advisory Board, Research Committee, and perioperative nurse staff members, with assistance from partner organizations, such as The Institute for Johns Hopkins Nursing.

This evidence rating is a two-step process. First, the references of an AORN guideline are appraised using the Johns Hopkins nursing evidence appraisal tools. Next, each practice recommendation is rated using the Oncology Nursing Society model.

Find news and other information as this evidence ranking and rating of AORN's guidelines is implemented.